Online extra: Memphis coach hoping Tigers closing in on 1st win

MEMPHIS — Memphis seems to be getting better every game. The improvement hasn’t paid off in a victory yet.

Breaking into the win column Saturday means the Tigers will have to beat an old rival that has dominated them in recent years.

Memphis coach Justin Fuente said that’s where his Tigers (0-2) are after playing Duke close into the fourth quarter before losing 28-14 and then lost 17-15 on the road at Middle Tennessee on a field goal with 1:49 left. The coach said his Tigers have just come up a little bit short.

“We’ve played well enough the last two weeks to give ourselves a chance to win, we just haven’t been able to take the next step,” Fuente said.

Here comes Arkansas State who started playing Memphis in 1914. The Red Wolves come into Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium having won four of the last five games between the teams, including a 33-28 victory over the Tigers in Jonesboro, Ark., last season.

Arkansas State (2-1) is coming off a 41-34 Sun Belt Conference victory over Troy on Sept. 12. The Red Wolves’ only loss this season was 38-9 at Auburn.

Bryan Harsin, in his first season at Arkansas State, is learning about the rivalry between the two schools about 75 miles apart. The game will be the 58th, and the Red Wolves have played Memphis more than any other school.

“I understand rivalry games,” Harsin said. “I understand the importance of it. I understand the emotion that goes into it. A lot of it is from the outside as far as the emotion goes.”

Arkansas State has a balanced offense, averaging 295.7 yards on the ground and 248.7 yards passing. Adam Kennedy has completed 67 percent of his passes without an interception. The Red Wolves feature 5-foot-10 senior David Oku, and he averages 82 yards a game, including 124 yards in the season-opening win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

“They are a very accomplished football team with really skilled players all over the place offensively from their quarterback to their running back to their receivers,” Fuente said.

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Here are five things to watch for Saturday as Arkansas State hopes to continue its recent dominance over Memphis:

YOUNG LEADERS: Harsin and Fuente are two of the youngest coaches in the country in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Harsin, at 36, is fourth youngest in the FBS, while the 37-year-old Fuente is sixth.

MEMPHIS QUARTERBACK: Fuente said despite the two losses he has not considered replacing redshirt-freshman Paxton Lynch as Memphis’ starting quarterback. Jacob Karam, a senior who started all 12 game for Memphis last season, is the backup. “I’m not saying there won’t be a time when (Karam) will be called upon to help our team out,” Fuente said. “That probably will happen.”

HARSIN’S HISTORIC START: If the Red Wolves win, Harsin would be 3-1, the best start in a coach’s inaugural season at Arkansas State since Bill Adams in 1939.

PUNTING PROWESS: Both teams feature strong punting games. Tigers punter Tom Hornsey averaged 49.6 yards on five kicks against Middle Tennessee. Half of Hornsey’s 12 punts this season have been downed inside the opponents’ 20. Meanwhile, Arkansas State sophomore Luke Ferguson is averaging 47.5 yards a punt, second-best in the Sun Belt. He has punted only six times with two going at least 60 yards, including a career-best 63-yarder in the Red Wolves’ last game against Troy.

TURNOVER TREND: The Red Wolves forced four turnovers against Troy in their Sept. 12 victory, including three interceptions. The four turnovers claimed by Arkansas State were the most it had recorded in seven previous games.

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